Jamaica’s Jodi Munn-Barrow produced a gritty performance to successfully defend her Ladies Division title at the T&T Golf Open, holding off a strong local challenge over three demanding days at the St Andrews Golf Club in Moka, Trinidad, over the weekend.
The Jamaica Golf Association president led from start to finish, carding consistent opening rounds of 79 and 79, before navigating a difficult final day to close with an 84.
Her winning total of 242 (25-over par) secured a commanding nine-stroke victory over Trinidad and Tobago’s Victoria Seenath, who finished second at 34-over par.
From the first tee on Friday, the sentiment from all the golfers was that the course was playing extremely tough, but the veteran Munn-Barrow navigated the difficult conditions to pull off back-to-back victories.
“I truly struggled a lot with putting over the three days,” Munn-Barrow admitted.
“The Trinidad Open this year was quite challenging. St Andrews is known to be a very tight course, very slopey with fast greens. Pin placements were very challenging. I was just able to try to stay within myself and overcome the difficulties I especially had on the last day. Truly an honour for me to retain the title.”
Host nation representatives dominated the chasing pack, with Isabella Ramdeen claiming third at 37-over par, followed by compatriots Elise La Borde (44-over) and Kahlan Francis (48-over) rounding out the top five.
In the meantime, local boy and defending men’s champion Chris Richards Jr delivered a masterclass in pressure golf on Sunday, storming back from a two-stroke deficit to retain his T&T Golf Open title dramatically.
The home favourite entered the final round trailing St Lucia’s Yadhu Urs, but produced a composed two-over par round, featuring five birdies, to gradually climb the leaderboard. His decisive late surge saw him overtake the leaders to secure victory with a winning total of five-over par.
The triumph marks Richards Jr’s second consecutive T&T Open crown and extends his remarkable hot streak to three tournament victories on the trot, following recent successes in the United States.
There was further Jamaican success across the age groups, with Phillip Prendagast finishing third in the Super Seniors Division and Dr Mark Newnham placing fourth in the Seniors category.
